What are the consequences of Egypt cutting ties with Qatar?

Egypt declared the severance of its diplomatic ties with Qatar on Monday and the shutdown of all sea and air ports with Qatar for national security purposes

Cairo declared in a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry that it will take the necessary measures to address friendly countries and Arab and international companies to do the same.

Consequences of this decision, as mentioned by Egyptian experts speaking to Al Arabiya, are the following:

1. The imposition of a maritime and air blockade on Qatar. Qatar Airlines will not be able to cross Egyptian airspace and will not be able to land at Egypt's airports; therefore, will have to change routes, which will cost millions of dollars in losses due to an increase in the flight and operating times and fuel costs. Subsequently, passengers will not use Qatar Airlines and will choose other foreign airlines, causing heavy losses for the carrier.

2. After the imposition of the air embargo on Qatar by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, Qatar's only outlet to Europe will be Iran and Turkey. This will increase operating costs and flight time, which is expected to result in a huge loss to the Qatari economy, estimated at billions.

3. Qatari vessels will not pass through Egyptian territorial water and it may be tough to resort to more expensive passages, so Qatari ships may have to choose an Iranian route.

4. The severance of diplomatic relations means the closure of the Qatari embassy in Egypt, departure of the ambassador and the staff of the embassy. Egypt has frozen the work of its embassy in Doha for years. Following this decision, the relations will be severed, which means that the Qataris cannot visit Egypt either for study, tourism or business. It will also be difficult for Egyptians to obtain visas to travel to Qatar.

5. Trade between the two countries, which is weak in any case, has been halted. Qatar will not be able to import products from Egypt because of the difficulty in transferring them, on the one hand, and the severance of relations on the other hand.